214 This Is My Failure (1/2)
There was still a long time until the next weekend. During this break period, Ye Shuang had no intention of returning to San Lin City to interact with Albert, so she temporarily stayed in Chaohai. She waited until the day she turned into Sister Shuang and then she went to Jing Hu City.
The group of young masters and young ladies in Jing Hu City welcomed Sister Shuang's return. Even though Ye Shuang had not returned to this place for a long time already, she did spend a lot of time and effort to brush up on her existence there. The acting and energy that she had exhausted at this place was also the highest; therefore, the effect was naturally different from the other cities where she had just shown herself temporarily.
”Even though we have not met for so long, Miss Ye is still as charming as ever.” Mr. Lu held the glass of wine and greeted Ye Shuang, who sat across from him, with a smile. Other people wished to come over to join the conversation as well, but they knew that Mr. Lu did not wish to be interrupted at a time like this. Thus, they very cleverly left the private moment for the two.
”Mr. Lu, you're too kind.” Ye Shuang tossed her gaze to the other point of attention inside the private clubhouse, and she commented with interest, ”Looks like there have been some newcomers to this place. I do not seem to have any recollection of those two individuals…”
Mr. Lu followed Ye Shuang's gaze, and then he smiled lightly. ”Those are just passers-by, and the people here are merely acting in the capacity of hosts. The two are foreign investors; they have great popularity but not so great reputation. Miss Ye might not be familiar with their situation, but it would be best for you to avoid further interaction with them.”
Great popularity but not so great reputation… That was such an interesting analysis and criticism. There were quite a number of individuals in the upper society that had less than favorable reputations, but unlike the people from the entertainment business who were constantly under the spotlight, the upper society had greater leeway for people's misgiving. If it was just a small mistake, then of course, it would not be worth it to bring it up. To be able to earn a horrible reputation and a reputation that was agreed by everyone in the community, then the person's private life was truly depraved or the negative criticism on the individual was very high.
For example, An Zixuan could be said to have a less than favorable reputation among the people in the circle. However, most of that was still contained within San Lin City. What An Zixuan did had not been spread to other cities. In other words, if that person was about to spread the negative reputation that they enjoyed to a national stage, then the person's family background and the horrible things that they had done would be both equally popular.
Just as they were continuing the conversation, the two individuals that were surrounded by the crowd walked over. On the surface, they were paying respect to Mr. Lu's position at Jing Hu City, but they probably heard many things about Ye Shuang's reputation from the crowd.
Mr. Lu stood up to welcome them. With a polite smile, he blocked them from getting too close to Ye Shuang, and the way he stood also blocked one of their gazes, which was studying Ye Shuang. After some brief preamble, the three took their seats. Mr. Lu naturally took the seat next to Ye Shuang and placed his arm on the sofa behind Ye Shuang's back. Then, he made the introduction to the two newcomers with a smile. ”This is Miss Ye Shuang… What were you gentlemen discussing earlier?”
The introduction was stopped halfway. Mr. Lu showed no sign of wanting to introduce the two men to Ye Shuang. That combined with his current attitude was telling the two men to stay away. The two who had just sat down looked at one another. When they turned back to face Ye Shuang, their earlier presumptuous and jumpy attitude had been taken back, and their tone became a lot more polite. ”It was nothing interesting. We just wanted to ask if Mr. Lu and Miss Ye have any plans to go to Chaohai for a holiday.”
If this was just a normal socialite, they would not have been so cautious, but since this was someone that was valued by the local leader, they had to be more careful with their choice of words. The two might have a great time there, but they knew where their limit was and where to pause.
Ye Shuang had just came from Chaohai, so naturally, she was sensitive to the location's name when it was brought up. Her eyes turned to look at Mr. Lu and smiled. The latter explained with a smile, ”Is it a cruise party? That is indeed Chaohai's specialty. I hear they will organize such an event annual and invite all the famous people from across the nation. The party will be a rave that will last for four days and three nights. The organizer should be the member of the private clubhouses in Chaohai, but we all know those places are all owned by the Si Hai Organization. Therefore, the real organizer should be the Si Hai Organization's Zuo Yuanhang.”
Ye Shuang had not been to such a high-scale party before, but she did not find it that difficult to pick up the thread of conversation. She smiled and said, ”Mr. Zuo is famed for his self-discipline and diligence. I do find it hard to imagine how the man would act at a rave.”
As she expected, the three other individuals present had heard about Zuo Yuanhang's habit before, so they shared a complicit smile. This was especially true for the two people who had just arrived. They probably thought that Ye Shuang's identity was higher than they expected, so they became even more polite. ”Chaohai's development is mainly focused on tourism, and what about the local economy development? Fruits? Seafood‽ There is nothing unique about that. Even though Zuo Yuanhang himself might not enter the fray and play, he is a clever businessman. He knows how to arrange everything so that it has the best effect. We might enjoy the eggs, but there is no need to pay attention to what the hen looks like.”
The other man chimed in. ”Yes, actually, going down there to relax is not such a bad idea. The procurement of the invitation will be quite difficult, but there are plenty of things to do on the cruise. The famed ladies from all the cities will be gathered… Cough! Forgive me, I forgot that Mr. Lu already has someone in his heart.”
He was only halfway through when his partner nudged him lightly, so the man quickly changed his words and looked at Ye Shuang apologetically, signaling to everyone present who this 'someone in Mr. Lu's heart' was. Mr. Lu did not explain. He merely raised his wine glass to the two gentlemen, and they continued chatting.
”Actually, it is not a bad idea for Mr. Lu to bring Miss Ye down there to relax together. The party will not go overboard this time because I hear Zuo Yuanhang is going to make use of the opportunity to celebrate his daughter's birthday. With the presence of Mrs. Zuo and his daughter, Zuo Yuanhang will naturally pay careful attention to this year's guest list.”
Mr. Lu was about to open his lips to say something when Ye Shuang nodded with a smile. ”Yes, I hear that Miss Zuo's birthday is going to be next Sunday. I just did not expect it would be held on the cruise ship. Then I suppose I will be attending this cruise party since I have already received the invitation.”
If Albert was there, Han Chu would be there. If Han Chu was there, then Anthony could be there. Even though they were familiar with both of Ye Shuang's identities, it was safer for her to attend the party with her original identity.
Ye Shuang originally did not give it too much consideration, but since Zuo Yuanhang's so called 'birthday party' was of this scale, it was understandable that Sister Shuang's identity was safer, and this way, she would not have attracted so much attention on the cruise.
The other three were baffled. The two who had a bad reputation among the circle, who had been trying to secure an invitation, were the most shocked.
Mr. Lu thought about it and said, ”If I have time, perhaps I will pay it a visit as well.”
Therefore, the situation could not have been clearer. The person who had confirmed to have an invitation was Ye Shuang; the person who temporarily had not received the invitation but could secure it easily if he wanted to was Lu Shaoyue; the other two who had been trying their best to sneak their way into an invitation…
Looking at how expertly Ye Shuang tasted the wine and the way she conversed with Mr. Lu, the two did not dare act on their earlier presumption anymore. After a little more conversation, the two left Mr. Lu and Ye Shuang alone. When they were out of sight, they wiped the sweat on their foreheads. They exchanged a look and a bitter smile; they had been so close to get themselves in big trouble.
Who was it that said this woman had no power and influence‽
…
Ye Shuang chatted with Mr. Lu for a while longer then expanded her attention to focus on the suppressed sound of angry berating coming from the corner of the clubhouse. She initially did not have any interest in this type of verbal argument, but after listening to a small portion of it, Ye Shuang realized that the argument was somewhat related to her.
Therefore, her interest was piqued, and she finished listening to the whole argument. Ye Shuang could not help but smile. It looked like the fact that she was not moving around in an expensive ride and wearing expensive jewelry on her body still attracted unwanted attention. Even though this could be the issue of personal taste and personality, it was also true that she had gotten so close to Lu Shaoyue.
It was common for this type of mutual competitive attitude to exist within members of the same sex, especially when one of them saw the other as possible competition. Even though Ye Shuang herself did not see it that way, she would not escape the fate of being studied and nit-picked by others. This was not aided by the fact that there was plenty of room in terms of Ye Shuang's background for other people to make stories about.
Lu Shaoyue saw Ye Shuang smile for no apparent reason, and he asked with a smile of his own, ”What is on your mind that is so interesting?”
”It's nothing,” Ye Shuang said and studied Lu Shaoyue with a meaningful gaze. ”I have simply realized, the thing that happened earlier, the reason the two men came to us might have something to do with Mr. Lu.”
Lu Shaoyue glanced through the crowd subconsciously to search for the shadows of the two men. Not long after that, he found them at the corner booth, and sitting across from them was a good-looking woman. Different from Ye Shuang's softer beauty, the woman's facial features were not that impressive, but she had that scholarly presence that made her stand out.
Lu Shaoyue frowned slightly, but he soon relaxed. He moved his gaze away like he did not mind the thing that he saw and added with an apologetic smile, ”Now I have a clear guess why the two would come over to ask about the cruise party.”
”Oh, I do wish to hear why.”
Ye Shuang still heard her name being mentioned at the corner booth. The woman lifted her head to look their way with confusion and disbelief in her eyes, but Lu Shaoyue had not turned back to look at them since. ”That was Mrs. Zuo's sister, not biological sister but cousin. Her father is a lecturer on the Qing Dynasty and is quite a famous scholar within the country. He was even invited once to appear on national television. That gives her the right to join our gathering, but I would not call her a necessary fixture here.”
To be able to enter the private clubhouse was one thing, but even if someone enjoyed some popularity in the outside would, it did not mean that they would be able to maintain a strong position among the upper social circle. The issue here was comparison. For example, the leader of a district was impressive, right? But if the district leader was placed in the national assembly, how many district leaders would there be‽ Then, what about the state leaders? Furthermore, district leaders were on rotation. They might be the leader this year, but what about the past leader and the leaders in the future‽
When a thing was rare, it would become precious. No one could guarantee their position would be the same everywhere. The most important thing was still the average level and where one stand in reference to this average level.
Ye Shuang nodded. ”Looks like that socialite is quite interested in Mr. Lu.”
If not, she would not have asked the two men to interact with them earlier. Based on the information that Ye Shuang had gathered from the people at the private clubhouse, the reputation of those two was definitely not that good.
Salacious parties, drugs, casual sex, prostitution… Calling them a duo of depravity was not that far away from the truth. If one came from a family background that was strong enough to put them into place, then it was still fine. However, if one did not have the backbone and was unfortunate enough to get on their target list, the ending could only be less than positive.
Even though the two had their own code of honor and would not force anyone to do things that they did not want to, if someone was spotted hanging around these two people for too long, no matter how clean their record was, their reputation would be soured.
”I suppose.” Lu Shaoyue sipped the champagne and replied in a tone that showed that he did not give the girl much thought. ”But the girls cultivated by Mrs. Zuo's family… I don't think I will be able to accept any of them.”